Wire and strip painting apparatus



Oct. 24B E95@ H. A. TQULMIN, JR- l 2,527,465

WIRE AND STRIP PAINTING APPARATUS Filed April 26 1947 4'Sheets-Sheet 1 o *r :izi' @t I I I In a 1| y m :2 I CI w l 1 I (l, n

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ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 24, 1950 WIRE AND STRIP PAINTING APPARATUS Harry A. Toulmin, Jr., Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Industrial Metal Protectives, Inc., Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application April 26, 1947, Serial No. 744,115

2 Claims.

This invention deals with an apparatus for coating materials of a wire or strip form, and in particular for coating metal wires and metal strips.

The apparatus of my invention consists broadly in a combination of a device for pickling the metal where impurities, scale and other surface contaminations are eliminated, a device for removing the excess of the pickling liquid from the metal after treatment, a device for applying a coating composition, a device for drying and baking said coating metal, and means for guiding the metal to be coated through said various devices.

The invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 1A together are a longitudinal sectional view of one embodiment of an apparatus of my invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a modified baking oven which may be substituted` for the baking oven shown in the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figures 5, 5A and 5B together are a perspective view, with parts thereof broken away, of another embodiment of an apparatus of my invention; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional View taken along line 6 6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and in particular to Figures l and 2, the reference numeral Ill designates a pickling tank, the reference numeral I I a neutralizing tank, and the4 numeral I2 a rinsing tank. Wires I3 to be coated are guided through-said tank I0 by means of guide roll I4 and guide bars I5 and 20, the heights of.

the latter two being adjustable by means of screws I6 and 2l, respectively. A supply pipe I1 is arranged at tank Ill with an outlet I8 through which a picklng acid I9 is fed into the tank I0. In said tank I0, the wires I3 undergo a thorough cleaning procedure, contaminations such as rust, grease, dust, etc., being removed there from vthe surface. The wires are then guided over a roll 22 which is mounted on a partition 23 separating tanks I Il and II. In tank I I the wires are also held in position by guide bars 24 and 25 which are adjustable by means of screws 26 and 21, respectively. Neutralizing liquid 30 is fed into the neutralizing tank II by means of a pipe 28 through a dispenser outlet 29. Itwill be obvious that in this tank the neutralizing liquid, which may be any alkaline solution or a mixture of such solutions, neutralizes any acid still adhering to the metal from the previous pickling step. Thereafter the wires are passed through the rinsing tank I2 by means of guide roll 3l mounted on partition 32, and by means of guide bars 33 and 34 the heights of which are adjustable by means of screws 35 and 36, respectively. Water 39 is fed into the rinsing tank by means of pipe 31 and outlet 38. Thereafter, the wires are subjected to drying in a drier 4I into which they are brought by means of a guide roll 40. A blower 42 furnishes the air necessary for drying and circulates it through pipe 43. The air may be preheated whereb" the drying procedure is accelerated. The wires are now ready for the coating step proper which is carried out in a coating tank designated 44 and containing coating material 45 in fluid condition; the coating material is charged into said tank by means of pipe 46 and through outlet 41. The wires are passed through said coating tank by means of guide roll 48 and guide bars 50 and 5I the latter of which are adjustably mounted by means of screws 52 and 53, respectively. The coated wires are then passed over a guide roll 49 and from there through a drier 54 where a compressor 55 provides for circulation of air through pipe 56` Finally, the coating on the wire is baked in a baking oven 51, where the wires are passed several times through the length of said oven by guiding them over a plurality of rolls 58. By this arrangement, the baking oven may be built considerably shorter than if the wires were fed through the oven only in one single layer. Infrared lamps 59 provide for the necessary baking heat. The iinished wires are then Wound onto reels, such as reel 60.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional illustration of the pickiing tank I0.. It will be evident therefrom'that the guide bar I5 has a plurality of grooves 6I so that a number of wires may be fed through and treated in the apparatus at the same time.

Figure 3 shows a baking oven 62 which is operated by means of induction heat instead of by infrared heat as is the -oven 51 of Figure 1. There, an induction coil 63 is energized by means of a motor-generator set 64, the speed of which is controlled by means of a resistance 65. Figure 4, which is a cross-sectional view of the induction coil, again illustrates the possibility of treating a plurality of wires simultaneously.

Figures 5 to 6 illustrate another modiiication of the apparatus o f my invention, this time it is being used for the coating of metal plates. A pickling tank 6B contains pickling acid 1D which is received through a pipe 11. A plurality of metal sheets 19 which are to be coated are arranged on a support 82 (Figure 6) carried by straps 83. These straps are attached to a crane 80 which moves the entire assembly along a rail 8 I, and in the iirst step from said pickling tank 68 to a rinsing tank 61. There, water 1l is dispensed in the form of a spray from a pipe 16 through a sprayer 14. The water removes the main part of the acid. Any remainder is then neutralized in a tank 68 by means of an alkaline liquid 12 fed into said tank B8 through a pipe 18. Thence the plates are moved into a tank B9 where they are once more rinsed with water 13 atomized by means of a sprayer 15. Thereafter, the plates are introduced into a drying oven 84 (Figure 5A). Air is blown into said oven by means of a pipe 85 and exhausted by means of a pipe 86. There the water is evaporated from the metal plates. The plates are then introduced into a spray chamber 81 where a coating composition from a container 90 is sprayed by means of a compressor 89 through nozzles 88 and deposited on the preheated plates. The plates, after being coated,A are then dried in a drying oven 9| and thereafter baked in an oven 92 which is heated by means of infrared lamps 93.

While the apparatus just described are usable for all kinds of coating processes and materials, they are particularly advantageous for the socalled Zincilate coating compositions which are compositions based on mixtures of alkali silicate. chromates, and metal dust. The Zincilate coatings and the method of producing them are described in detail in the assignees copending application Fisher et al., Serial No. 727,490, iiled February 10, 1947. In the case of Zincilate coatings the pickle bath will advantageously contain hydrochloric acid of an approximate concentration of from 40 to 60 per cent, the first water rinse (tank 61 of Figure 5) cold water to which a small amount of di-chromate is advantageously added. The neutralizing tank will preferably contain a mixture of sodium carbonate, trisodium phosphate, sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate and the iinal rinse of the pre-treating process will be carried out by means of water having a temperature of approximately 180 F. It is also advisable to build in stirring devices in the various tanks in order to provide for satisfactory circulation and uniform concentration of the baths.

It will be understood that while there have been described in this speciiication various speciic embodiments of the invention itis not intended thereby to have the invention limited to the specic details-given in view of the fact that the invention is susceptible to various modiiications and changes which come'within the spirit of the disclosure and the scope oi' the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for coating wires in a continuous process, comprising in combination. a plurality of separate containers arranged in series for receiving pickling, neutralizing and rinsing liquid respectively, conveyer means for conveying a plurality of wires simultaneously through said containers, drying means arranged adjacent the last of said containers for drying y said wires after having passed through said containers, a coating container adapted to receive coating material and having associated therewith conveying means for conveying said wires from said drying means through said coating container, drying means including circulating means for a gas for drying the wires after having passed said coating container, and baking means adjacent said drying means for receiving said wires from said drying means and causing the coating on said wires to bake. said conveying means for said containers and said coating container including guide members in each container for guiding the wires and spacing the wires from one another. and manual means for adjusting the position of said guide members in said containers and said coating container.

2. An apparatus for coating wires in a continuous process, comprising in combination, a plurality of separate containers arranged in series for receiving pickling, vneutralizing and rinsing liquid respectively, conveyer means for conveying a plurality of wires simultaneously through said containers, drying means arranged adja- 'cent the last of said containers for drying said wires after having passed through said containers, a coating container adapted to receive coating material and having associated therewith conveying means for conveying said wires from said drying means through said coating container, drying means including circulating means for a gas for drying the wires after having passed said coating container, and baking means adjacent said drying means for receiving said wires from said drying means and causing the coating on said wires to bake, said conveying means for said containers and said coating container including guide members in each container, said guide members each having a plurality of grooves for spacing the wires, and means including a screw member secured to each guide member for adjusting the position of each guide member in said containers and said coating container.

HARRY A. TOULMIN, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 767,900 Lee Aug. 16, 1904 1,128,071 Stanley Feb. 9, 1915 1,968,687 Johnson July 31, 1934 2,249,521 Graham et al July 15, 1941 2,279,686 Kerlin Apr. 14, 1942 2,378,758 Ekstrom June 19, 1945 2,469,123 Martin May 3, 1949 

